The present invention relates to a winding machine for winding a metal strip.
When the leading edge of a strip is gripped between a mandrel and a wrapper roll or when a portion of the strip overlaying the leading edge (which will be referred to as the "stepped portion" in this specification) passes past the wrapper roll after coils of the strip are wound around the mandrel, the wrapper roll is imparted with impacts so that malfunction and/or damages to the mechanical system associated with the wrapper roll and damages or surface flaws to the wrapper strip will result. In addition, the strip will not be coiled into a desired shape.
In order to overcome these problems, a prior art device as shown in FIG. 1 has been used. A strip a is pressed against a mandrel b by a wrapper roll c when an air cylinder d is energized. A damping spring g is loaded between a bearing e and an arm f of the wrapper roll c so that the spring g may absorb the impacts caused when the leading edge or the stepped portion of the strip a passes between the mandrel b and the wrapper roll c. However, the above-described damping system has not been satisfactory in practice because of spring constant of the damping spring g and stroke of the air cylinder d.
The primary object of the present invention is therefore to provide a winding machine of the type in which a hydraulic cylinder is used to press a wrapper roll against a mandrel and when the stepped portion of a strip passes between the mandrel and the wrapper roll, the wrapper roll is moved away from the mandrel so that no shock or impact will be transmitted to the wrapper roll, whereby the use of a damping spring may be eliminated.
The present invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.